


Sunrise

by matzo19



Category: 2pHetalia, Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 19:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10578087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matzo19/pseuds/matzo19
Summary: He wouldn’t be upset to lose in a beauty contest to the sunrise.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArtsyFartsyBro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtsyFartsyBro/gifts).



Maxim was halfway between being awake and being asleep. The only thing that kept him awake was the cool morning air, but lulling him back to sleep was the warmth of William’s body as Maxim leaned against him. They were on the back porch of Will’s house, so early that they were up before the sun. “The sunrise is beautiful this time of year,” Will said the previous night. “We should get up early and watch it together.” And here they were, sitting in the dark as a chilly breeze sent shivers down Maxim’s spine, causing him to cuddle even closer against Will for his warmth. 

“Maxim, wake up,” Will whispered, very gently shaking his smaller friend. “It’s starting.” Maxim yawned and stretched, not even realizing he had fallen asleep against Will’s shoulder for a few minutes. Another cool shiver raced through his body before he was immediately cuddling against William again, his eyes focused on the horizon where the sun was just hardly peeking over the edge. Their focus for now was on the bright pink sky and orange clouds, though. And to be honest, that was Maxim’s favorite part. “It’s so beautiful,” Will said in a quiet voice, as if speaking too loudly would disturb the scenery and make the sun retreat back behind the horizon. 

Maxim simply nodded along in response. As much as he wanted to enjoy the sunrise, much more of his effort was going into just keeping his eyes open. Somehow, he managed. Probably because he knew he would enjoy the sunrise even more if he was watching it with his friend. “It’s very beautiful.” He nodded against Will’s shoulder. “Hey, Velvela,” he said as he forced himself to sit up more. “Who’s prettier, me or the sunrise?” Maxim giggled, obviously teasing. He wouldn’t be upset to lose in a beauty contest to the sunrise. He knew Will thought he was attractive, but he also knew how much his friend loved nature. Which is why Will’s answer came as such a surprise to Maxim.

“You, definitely.” Will answered without any thought, any hesitation. There was no hint of teasing or sarcasm in his voice, only a serious sincere answer.

“Really?” Maxim pulled away slightly so that he could see Will’s face. Maybe he was hiding a smug grin behind his serious tone, but when Maxim looked up at him, the only thing he saw was Will’s honest smile, framed by the soft morning light of the still rising sun.

“Absolutely,” Will continued. “If I had to give up sunrises for the rest of my life just so that I could see your face every day, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

And suddenly, Maxim was reminded as to why he had such a big, huge, overbearing crush on his best friend. No one in history had ever been so nice to him, so caring, so accepting. Will had met him during one of his drug binges and asked when he’d be able to visit him again instead of shunning or judging him. “You’re such a dork,” Maxim chuckled as he playfully shoved William. His mind was reeling and his heart was racing, and being so nonchalant was the only way to keep his emotions in check. He had no plans for some grand confession of love any time in the near future. Instead, he’d push the compliment to the back of his mind, cherishing it always while he forced himself to think of Will as just a friend. But as much as he tried to contain his feelings, his desire for Will’s affection always won in the end. He snaked his hand down Will’s arm, lacing his rough fingers with Will’s smooth digits as he placed a soft kiss on Will’s shoulder. All strictly platonic, of course. “You are too sweet, Velvela.”

They sat mostly in silence for the rest of the sunrise, simply enjoying each other’s company and each other’s touch. Once they were both satisfied with the sun’s trek over the horizon, they returned back to the safety of the indoors.

“I think I might go back to sleep, if that’s alright.” Maxim rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, but to no avail. He had made the mistake of staying up on his phone late last night, and Maxim was someone who required a lot of sleep.

“I will come with you. I suppose a small nap could not hurt,” Will chimed as he walked with Maxim back to his bedroom. Will and Maxim crawled into the bed, each returning to the spots they had been sleeping in just one sunrise earlier. Maxim fell asleep quickly, truly still exhausted from his sleepless night. Will, on the other hand, stayed up. For some period of time, he was content to just cuddle Maxim, enjoying their closeness. He spent the other half of Maxim’s nap propped up on one elbow, content to just watch Maxim sleep. He looked so at peace. Besides his smile, it was his favorite view of Maxim’s face, and one he had painted many, many times over. 

Maxim woke up to Will’s smiling face above him, which wasn’t really all that unusual. He smiled up at his friend, stretching out underneath him with a yawn. “Alright, I think that was a good nap,” he said through his yawn. While it wasn’t a surprise to wake up to Will watching him sleep, there was something… different about his look this time. “What’s up?”

“Maxim, can I tell you something?” Will gently brushed a curl off of Maxim’s forehead as he spoke, mostly looking for a distraction. Usually his first resort was the hair band on his wrist, but he hadn’t put one on yet this morning, so Maxim’s hair would have to do. 

“Yeah, ‘course.” Maxim smiled tiredly. Maybe that wasn’t as much extra sleep as he needed, but it was enough to be awake again, especially with Will playing with his hair like this.

Will took a few moments to start speaking again, still gathering his thoughts. “Maxim, I…” he started, frowned, and went silent again, still not sure how he wanted to word his thoughts. He huffed slightly and rolled over onto his back, taking his turn to lay down. Maxim took the opportunity to sit up on his elbow, mirroring Will’s previous pose so that he could look down at Will and play with his hair. “Maxim,” Will started again. “You know that I care about you a lot, right? And I would never want to do anything to ruin or lessen our friendship, right?”

“Of course I know that.” Maxim chuckled, still unsure where Will was headed. But he didn’t mind; Will was hard to communicate with sometimes anyways. He was happy to just run his fingers through Will’s hair as he waited for him to gather his thoughts.

“It’s just that… Well, I don't want to jeopardize our friendship, but I feel I have been keeping a secret from you for so long and it is important that I tell you.” Will took a deep breath as Maxim waited expectantly. “I believe I may have some… romantic feelings towards you. Or rather,  _ lots _ of romantic feelings towards you I hope you are not too put off by that.” Will looked away as he confessed, feeling too embarrassed to meet Maxim’s gaze. But in that respect, there wasn't much to see. Maxim simply stared at William, wide eyed with flushed cheeks. Had he heard him right? Did he just confess that he has a crush on him? On Maxim?

He opened his mouth, intending to ask Will to repeat himself, but nothing came out. No, he was sure that he'd heard him right. He opened his mouth, trying again. “Velvela?” He spoke softly, the same way Will spoke during the sunrise; he thought maybe if he spoke too loudly, he'd scare Will’s feelings away. Maxims free hand, which had been resting idly on Will’s chest, creeped upwards to cup his jaw and bring his head back to face him. “May I kiss you?”

Will simply nodded in response, not so sure what else he could do. He was at a loss for words, only able to stare up at Maxim and appreciate how well the late morning light pouring in from his bedroom window framed his face and how Maxims fingers tickled as they ran through his beard and how close Maxim was suddenly.

And the kiss was like  _ fire _ . Maxim knew fire when he felt it (he’d burned himself enough in his life to be familiar with it), and this was it. It wasn’t intense, it wasn’t rough, it was just there, heating him up as it spread from his lips to his face to his neck and so on. It was a long, slow, slow kiss, or at least it felt like it. He noticed Will’s heavy arms draped over his shoulders; when did those get there? The way Will pulled him closer set Maxim aflame, and he melted against the larger man. Then the kiss was over, and while the fire was out, the residual heat remained. Maxim pressed his forehead against Will’s, taking a slow, shaky breath as he gathered his thoughts. It took a little longer than normal because his brain felt so scrambled. Maxim was, to say the least, an experienced kisser. But he had never felt something like this. Their kiss wasn’t hungry, wasn’t greedy, wasn’t dripping in desire. It was loving.

“Velvela,” Maxim breathed, closing his eyes as he nuzzled his forehead against his friend’s, their noses fitting in next to each other perfectly. “I feel the same way.” There it was! That’s what he had meant to say at Will’s initial confession, but the words had left him as soon as he thought them.

“I gathered,” Will said with a small chuckle. While he was usually oblivious to social cues, even Maxim’s very obvious attraction to him (hindsight is always 20/20, they say), somehow this all seemed so clear to him, as if the words “I have been in love with you for years” were inscribed on Maxim’s lips, just for a moment like this.

Maxim placed another kiss on Will’s lips. This one was much shorter--sweet and to the point--before he rolled over and laid back down on the bed, snuggling against Will. He didn’t really know what to say at this point, but luckily Will came to the rescue.

“What do you want for breakfast?” he asked, sitting up after a moment.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he shrugged. The impulse crossed his mind to say ‘you?’ but Maxim was smarter than that. It would have gone over Will’s head anyways. “I think just toast sounds good today.”

“Toast it is.” Will stretched before crawling over Maxim and off the bed, preparing to head to the kitchen to prepare their breakfast.

“Oh, I’ll come with you.” Maxim quickly followed, getting out of bed after him. He grabbed Will’s hand, lacing his fingers with Will’s. It was such a familiar feeling, yet somehow, it was just the slightest bit different now. Maxim relished in that feeling, giving Will’s hand an affectionate squeeze as they left for the kitchen together to start their day.

**Author's Note:**

> And then Duchess shed a single tear from her cat tree in the corner of the room. 
> 
> \--
> 
> i just. i love will and maxim so much.


End file.
